:''See also Prince Katsura, the second son of

Prince Mikasa was a Japanese prince, the youngest of the four sons of Emperor Taishō (Yoshihito) and Empress Teimei (Sadako). He was their last surviving child. His eldest brother was Emperor Shōwa (Hirohito). After serving as a junior cavalry officer in ...

.'' The was the one of the four ''

shinnōke was the collective name for the four cadet branches of the Imperial family of Japan, which were until 1947 entitled to provide a successor to the Chrysanthemum throne if the main line failed to produce an heir. The heads of these royal houses ...

'', branches of the

Imperial Family A royal family is the immediate family of King, kings/Queen regnant, queens, Emir, emirs/emiras, Sultan, sultans/Sultana (title), sultanas, or raja/rani and sometimes their extended family. The term imperial family appropriately describes the ...

of Japan which were eligible to succeed to the

Chrysanthemum Throne The is the throne of the Emperor of Japan. The term also can refer to very specific seating, such as the throne in the Shishin-den at Kyoto Imperial Palace. Various other thrones or seats that are used by the Emperor during official functions ...

in the event that the main line should die out. It was founded by Prince Toshihito, a grandson of

Emperor Ōgimachi was the 106th Emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession. He reigned from November 17, 1557, to his abdication on December 17, 1586, corresponding to the transition between the Sengoku period and the Azuchi–Momoyama p ...

and brother of Emperor Go-Yōzei. It is the second oldest of the ''shinnōke'', after the

Fushimi-no-miya The is the oldest of the four shinnōke, branches of the Imperial Family of Japan which were eligible to succeed to the Chrysanthemum Throne in the event that the main line should die out. The Fushimi-no-miya was founded by Prince Yoshihito, t ...

. The Katsura-no-miya house has died out several times, and has undergone a number of changes in name. It was originally titled Hachijō-no-miya. Prince Hachijō-no-miya Toshihito lived at the

Katsura Imperial Villa The , or Katsura Detached Palace, is an Imperial residence with associated gardens and outbuildings in the western suburbs of Kyoto, Japan. Located on the western bank of the Katsura River in Katsura, Nishikyō-ku, the Villa is 8km distant fr ...

Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin, Keihanshin metropolitan area along wi ...

, hence he and all of his lineage are referred to as ''Katsura-no-miya''. Prince Yoshihito of Mikasa, the second son of

received the title ''Katsura-no-miya'' in 1988. However this title is connected to his , ''Katsura'' ( Cercidiphyllum) and thus is not related to the ''shinnōke'' title. Unless otherwise stated, all Princes listed here are the sons of their predecessors.

References

* Keane, Donald. ''Emperor Of Japan: Meiji And His World, 1852-1912''. Columbia University Press (2005). *Lebra, Sugiyama Takie. ''Above the Clouds: Status Culture of the Modern Japanese Nobility''. University of California Press (1995). {{DEFAULTSORT:Katsura-No-Miya Japanese nobility